{"id":10596,"date":"2019-11-22T12:34:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T12:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/?p=10596"},"modified":"2019-11-22T15:59:12","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:59:12","slug":"a-shopping-spree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/th\/a-shopping-spree\/","title":{"rendered":"A Shopping Spree"},"content":{"rendered":"
November 11 is a date made up of four ‘ones’, and "Double Eleven" (\u53cc11<\/strong>) , known as Bachelor’s Day (\u5149\u68cd\u8282gu\u0101ng gùn jié<\/strong>), has always been co<\/em>nsidered a special day for single men and women in China. Six years ago, the internet retailer Alibaba began promoting the day as a shopping festival. This year, millions of shopping lovers are preparing for the shopping spree (\u8d2d\u7269\u72c2\u6b22\u8282gòu wù kuáng hu\u0101n jié<\/strong>) several days ahead of time.   <\/p>\n

           zuó w\u01cen áo yè le
Simon: \u6628\u665a\u71ac\u591c\u4e86\uff1f<\/strong>
            Did you stay up last night?
        
               w\u01d2 w\u01ceng gòu le h\u01ceo du\u014d y\u012b fú zh\u0113n shì pián yi
Huihui\uff1a\u6211\u7f51\u8d2d\u4e86\u597d\u591a\u8863\u670d\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u4fbf\u5b9c\u3002<\/strong>
              I bought many clothes online, and they were really cheap.<\/p>\n

             dàn shì  y\u012b f\u0113n qián, y\u012b f\u0113n huò \u0101
Simon\uff1a\u4f46\u662f“\u4e00\u5206\u94b1\u4e00\u5206\u8d27”\u554a\u3002
<\/strong>             But you o<\/em>nly get what you pay for.<\/p>\n

            méi bàn f\u01ce guò le zhè c\u016bn jiù méi zhè diàn er le
Huihui: \u6ca1\u529e\u6cd5\uff0c\u8fc7\u4e86\u8fd9\u6751\u5c31\u6ca1\u8fd9\u5e97\uff08\u513f\uff09\u4e86\u3002<\/strong>
           I have no choice. If I let this opportunity slip away, I will never catch it again.<\/p>\n

There are two new words featured in the above dialogue. "\u71ac\u591c(áo yè)",<\/strong> composed of the characters "\u71ac” (to endure) and "\u591c” (night), means "to stay up late or all night". "\u7f51\u8d2d” (w\u01ceng gòu), comprising the characters "\u7f51” (internet) and "\u8d2d” (to purchase), means "to purchase (goods) online."<\/p>\n

\u4e00\u5206\u94b1 (y\u012b f\u0113n qián)<\/strong> means one cent; \u4e00\u5206\u8d27 (y\u012b f\u0113n huò)<\/strong> means one cent of merchandise. Therefore, "\u4e00\u5206\u94b1\u4e00\u5206\u8d27<\/strong>" is a Chinese phrase similar to the English phrase “you get what you pay for.” In the dialogue, it is taken to mean that inexpensive products are low-quality. In another instance, if you inquire a<\/em>bout the price of something when shopping in China, and the shopkeeper gives you a much higher price than you expect; you can say "it is too expensive (\u592a\u8d35\u4e86)", then you may hear the respo<\/em>nse "\u4e00\u5206\u94b1\u4e00\u5206\u8d27", which means quality goods come with a high price.<\/p>\n

"\u6ca1\u529e\u6cd5"(méi bàn f\u01ce )<\/strong> means "There’s nothing I can do a<\/em>bout it". In the dialogue, the term is used to mean that Hui hui is unable to co<\/em>ntrol herself when it comes to shopping o<\/em>nline till midnight. Hui hui’s reason for doing so is, "\u8fc7\u4e86\u8fd9\u6751\u5c31\u6ca1\u8fd9\u5e97\u4e86"(guò le zhè c\u016bn jiù méi zhè diàn le),<\/strong> literally meaning "If you miss this village, you won’t be able to stay at the next inn;" used in this instance to refer to the rare opportunity of buying cheap goods online.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n